Beijing is likely to send more coastguard vessels on port calls to try to take the rough edges off the service’s image as part of a militia fleet used to press territorial claims in the South China Sea, analysts said. That assessment came after vessel 5204 paid the coastguard’s first “friendly visit” to the Philippines on Monday, in a move designed to strengthen its humanitarian credentials. Collin Koh, RSIS research fellow at NTU Singapore, said the visit helped to soften the Chinese coastguard’s image, which was shaped by the perception that it was a coercive force.